Upon arriving at
3rd Ward’s new space, an old factory at 573 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, I was hit with the realization that I had been there before. At the tender age of 19, I rode the finicky industrial elevator to the fourth floor to an illegal loft with a killer view. The last time I had been there I was naked and high, and now, nine years later, I was ready to see what the building had to offer me. Of course, it was dick.
Specifically, it was
Dick Chicken, the infamous street artist loved and loathed by the graffiti community. To open 3rd Ward’s new art gallery, the group had invited Dick Chicken to host an art show there. The title, “Girls & Snacks,” rang true, since the consumerism-themed pieces dealt with: Dick Chicken pizza (a delightful image of a fat Italian man holding a slice of pie with wiggly penises all over it), a Dick Chicken take on the McDonald’s nugget boxes and Warhol-esque Dick Chicken soup cans. About 20 minutes after doors opened to the public, the gallery filled with girls.
One thing the show didn’t have was Dick Chicken. In lieu of the man (though I have my suspicions he was lurking in the shadows as one of DC’s “friends”), he was represented by Ruda the hen, brought by Joe Diamond, owner of the Traif Bike Gesheft shop.While she dutifully stole the limelight and pecked away at offered popcorn kernels, one of the guys from the shop, who was “close” to Dick Chicken, gave me the skinny on our man’s eating habits and dating history.
“Dick Chicken is a vegan, by the way, and all for PETA,” said the blond, curly-haired boy named Ben. And Pussy Ham? “A girl he was somewhat involved with, and when it ended, she started tagging as a way to get back—but she did it underneath his tags. It’s seen more like an admirer.” Or a crazy stalker. Either way, the only dicks out in the open were DC’s cartoonish creations, sans a welcoming pussy—for now.
